


An Extraordinary Week

by squire



Series: Everything Of Me [6]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Crack, Emperor Hux, First Kiss, Flashback, Fluff, Honeymoon, Hound Kylo, Humour, KyluxRomanceWeek2019, M/M, Married Couple, Rating may go up for later chapters, Tiny bit of Angst, accidental aphrodisiac, dom!hux, sub!Kylo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-25 13:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17726405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squire/pseuds/squire
Summary: Hux had refused the idea of a honeymoon at first. When he finally agreed to it, it was to go undercover to an Empire-unaffiliated planet.Ren had never imagined being married to Hux would be so stressful (and so perfect).





	1. First Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> A series of more-or-less connected stories written for the Kylux Romance Week of 2019. The title of each chapter stands for the day's prompt. 
> 
> Set in the [Everything of Me verse](https://archiveofourown.org/series/428959). I tried my best to make this work understandable to those who didn't read the previous works in this AU. For those who prefer tl;dr - Emperor Hux and his Knight Ren are in a d/s relationship here that started as a mutually beneficial arrangement and then caught feelings along the way. Their beginnings have been rocky and Not Nice at times - be careful to read the tags if you dive into the rest of the series.

People usually remembered this, Hux knew. Silly sentimentality, remembering when and where their lips first touched someone else’s. As if it had meaning. Their life wouldn’t just stop because they had one awkward fumble in a supply closet. They would go their separate ways, get together and break up, forget the face, sometimes even forget the name - but still they would cling to that one memory. As if it mattered.

It annoyed Hux sometimes, how much it mattered to him. Because he did remember. He remembered every single of all the firsts kisses he and Kylo shared over the years.

There were so many, each first in a different way.

The first time Kylo tried to kiss him came out of the blue. Hux was just untying him after an intense session he designed to tire them out, to give them both what they needed and just happened to find in each other. Kylo’s head fell forward with exhaustion, his face ended up mashed into Hux’s neck - and then he moved, eyes closed, lips seeking Hux’s mouth on instinct like newborn animal-

Hux backhanded him so hard Kylo’s lip cut on his teeth. It probably ruined Kylo’s post-orgasm glow and significantly shortened the time until his next violent outburst but Hux felt this was a ground rule he had to lay down, firm.

Kylo was very malleable during those first days. He never tried that again.

Then one night Hux came back from a weeks long diplomatic mission, tired to the marrow of his bones and aching for something he couldn’t describe, and Kylo just  _ had  _ to be so perfect, so sweet, so willing to be broken and put back together-

Hux kissed him while Kylo was out of it, whispered  _ I missed you _ , and then spent days trying to convince himself this fluke never happened. And if it did, that it didn’t change anything. That he hadn’t changed. That he still stood high and untouchable, simply providing for Kylo the much needed outlet and discipline, just a maintenance of his assets, really - and if he enjoyed it too, it was because he needed the game. After hours of playing nice with the slippery dignitaries, days of high-strung courteousness and thousand little details vying for his attention, he needed to focus on someone and control them completely. He needed to hurt them and heal them and make them  _ his _ . It didn’t have to be Kylo, it could’ve been anyone.

It had to be Kylo, it had to be Kylo for months already, and Hux tried to wipe the knowledge off his mind like he wiped the condemning crimson lip paint off his own lips after that night.

Their first truly shared kiss was a tentative truce on the eve of the anniversary of Hux’s coronation. Hux remembered every detail - the lingering wetness of Kylo’s face, fresh from removing that ashen mourning garb, his soft lips, yielding, parting, bruising, accepting everything and still asking for more, never stopping asking for more. Hux remembered his own want, hunger, and yes - fear. Fear of the unknown. Alone was strength, known and reliable, alone was safety. Together was… everything else.

First kiss after Hux came back to himself from the haze of giving over control for the first time, exhausted and raw with guilt, bewildered by gentleness.  _ Hit me, hurt me, make us even _ . The kiss was like an absolution.  _ This is no race for justice. I don’t want to go back. I want to keep building on what we’ve made so far.   _

Their first kiss in public, soaked with sea water and too dazed by shock to be remembered clearly. Kylo had nearly died in an assassination attempt that day. He could have died without knowing how much Hux still hasn’t told him. His greatest fear. Not of the sea, not anymore, but the fear of losing him.

Hux doesn’t need to remember their next kiss. It will be captured on holocams, broadcasted to the ends of the known universe. It will be portrayed in artworks and featured in history books for generations to come. But he will remember it anyway. 


	2. Accidental Aphrodisiac

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ren is the responsible one, for once.

“... and over there, a marketplace, just a few streets down.” Kylo opened his eyes, mind still thrumming slightly from sampling all the buzz of people bustling around the ancient city, and refocused his attention on his companion. More precisely, on his companion’s back, already disappearing into the crowd.

“Wait! Hu-”

He remembered himself just in time, pulled his hood deeper into his face and hurried after his husband.

His husband of precious few days who first adamantly refused the idea of a honeymoon and when he finally agreed to one, it was to going undercover onto an Empire-unaffiliated planet. Damn it, Kylo didn't wait years for a proposal to become a widower after a week!

“...  _ honey, _ ” Kylo managed to cover up his earlier slip to whoever happened to listen. The glare he received almost made him wonder who exactly was in danger of becoming a widower here.

“I want to see the marketplace,” Hux said as if his long legs, made somehow appear even longer in those tight leggings and short tunics of local fashion, weren't already carrying him towards the busy place.

“The security-”

“Is your problem, Lord  _ Protector _ ,” Hux hissed under his breath. Kylo huffed. He liked the title of  _ Enforcer  _ better. Obviously, both were quite inconsequential here.

Hux's face softened. It was an unusual sight, almost just as jarring to Kylo as the soft, ruffled nest of dark brown hair on Hux's head.

“I've… never been to one, actually. Is it worth it?”

Kylo swallowed whatever further protest he might have had. He thought of the Imperial exiles, condemned to roam the Unknown Regions on starship. Of rations and uniforms and artificial light. And then, of a lavish court with triple security and guards looming in every corner. He offered Hux his elbow and smiled.

“Definitely. Take a deep breath.”

 

*

 

One of the good memories Kylo still had of his mother was of her favorite story: how little Ben consumed his weight in sugary cake and then ran away at a marketplace.

Nearly thirty years later, he finally understood why she always insisted it was a horror story. 

  
  


*

 

Kylo was out of breath, sweat running down the back of his neck under the hood. How was he supposed to  _ protect  _ his husband, the freaking galactic Emperor, when the man kept flitting around like a Naboonian hummingbee? Kylo was already using the Force simply to find him in the crowd.

“There you are,  _ darling,” _ he sighed with relief when he spotted that odd brown mop of hair above a familiar profile. Hux didn't even notice him, engrossed in a conversation with the vendor.

“... And you say, it enhances the Force sensitivity?”

“Why, yes. You take a pinch, like this, rub it between your fingertips, then sniff-”

“ _ Honey.  _ We aren't trying any drugs here, remember what the doctor said? It's not good for the baby.”

Kylo took Hux's hand and led him away, with surprisingly little resistance. Hux was laughing so hard he nearly stumbled.

“Baby?! Did you see his kriffing face? Sith hells  _ darling,  _ what is he now going to think about human biology?”

“His knowledge of biology was already sketchy if he was trying to sell ‘Force-enhancing’ drugs,” Kylo said without regret.

“Hmmm. You think it's a load of bantha shit?”

“If there was such a drug…” Kylo began, lowering his voice and speaking directly to Hux's ear, “my Knights would be already using it.”

He pulled off with concern when he felt Hux shiver against him. Did they spend too much time under the direct sun? Hux’s cheeks certainly seemed to glow…

Hux’s fingers tightened where they gripped his arm and rubbed at his skin, restless. He licked his lips. Slowly.

“I don’t know,” he said, drawing the words out. His tone slurred a little, deeper than usual. Sultrier. “I think I can feel it…my consciousness, dilating, I mean.”

Kylo looked him over in genuine alarm. “Your  _ pupils _ are dilating. Wait, did you- did you actually take it?”

Hux suddenly surged close and pressed his body tight against Kylo’s, fluid and  _ obvious _ in a way he rarely ever was - never in public. He burrowed his face under Kylo’s hood and sniffed along his neck.

“I wanted to know. How you feel. It.” Teeth grazed against the veins on his neck, followed by a daring lick of a tongue. They had to get out of the streets before Hux blew their cover… or before they got arrested for Hux trying to blow something else. In public.

“That’s not how…. it works,” Kylo groaned and grabbed Hux by the shoulders, putting some distance between them and taking in all the effects. “Did the vendor tell you what it was? The name of the drug?”

“Q’okka leaves. Just a pinch.”

“Q’okka-” Kylo stifled a yelp when Hux’s fingers demonstrated said  _ pinch _ on his nipple through the rough fabric of his shirt.

“Stars, that's a stimulant drug! Togruta hunters use q’okka leaves during long stakeouts,” Kylo explained as he dragged Hux towards their lodgings and tried to evade his attempts to get at bare skin.

“They use their natural Force affinity for hunting and q’okka helps them to enhance their senses and to stay alert longer. It doesn’t boost the Force, and it definitely doesn’t work the same way on non-Togruta. Hux, are you listening?” he pleaded once the door was safely locked behind them.

“You’re Human, which means that this drug-”

“You’re Human too,” Hux grinned, eyes somehow glazed and simultaneously sharp with single-minded focus, teeth gleaming in the low light. “We’re, in fact, perfectly compatible.”

“It brings out predatory instincts,” Kylo tried to get his point across while also getting ready the stuff needed to survive the inevitable. Which, in this case, meant lube. A lot of lube. Hux followed him closely, like a bloodhound on a scent.

“And since Humans aren’t exclusive carnivores like Togruta, our predation is limited to-”

He never finished the sentence because Hux tackled him to the bed. 

 

*

 

One of the less fortunate side effects of q’okka leaves was, of course, the memory blackout.

“I came  _ five times _ yesterday afternoon and I  _ don’t remember it?!! _ ”


	3. Clothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hux discloses a secret.

“We could get you a uniform.”

Kylo cracked one eye open to deliver a weak attempt at a glare. Between spending the morning of yesterday running after Hux on empty stomach and then the afternoon riding out the effect of the aphrodisiac Hux had taken, he was slowly getting tired of this honeymoon. Hux, on the other hand, was in a peak mood, sparkling with energy even as he lounged in their bed, bathed in lilac morning light coming through the slanting overhead window.

“Don't you have enough special units in the palace? I'm not your military.”

“You're my Enforcer. You're technically the first and foremost of my military. But that wasn't my point.”

“The Knights of Ren are _above_ military,” Kylo grumbled, closing his eyes again and rolling over to nuzzle his cheek against the cool part of the pillowcase. The air in the room was warming quickly, the bed becoming uncomfortably hot. Beside him, Hux’s mind was still obnoxiously awake. It was like repeatedly plucked sharp string in the otherwise dull static of the sleeping inn.

“Even the Knights’ garb can be hardly called a uniform,” Hux pointed out. Kylo sighed. So they were really doing this. Discussing fashion when they should be either fucked out and sleeping or working towards that.

“Don't tell me our robes ruin your anesthetics. I know you like the threatening effect.”

“I hate those bucket rags with passion,” Hux replied without missing a beat, “but still not my point.”

“I am not giving up my Naboonian robes if that's what you're about,” Kylo said quickly. He smirked. “I happen to know you _love_ them.” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and released it with a pop, the plush center of it filling up immediately with darker red. His smirk grew when Hux shifted on the bed, nostrils twitching minutely. The last time Kylo wore the traditional makeup to go with one of his dramatic attires was still a vivid memory.

“If you'd finally let me get to the point…”

“Yes, my Emperor?”

“I never said you'd have to wear it in public.”

Kylo stared at him, watching the fresh freckles from yesterday's sunburn grow just a shade darker, the rest of Hux's features carefully haughty and immobile…

“It better not be a maid’s uniform,” he said, ducking behind the pillow to hide his smile. Hux could - and oftentimes _did_ \- make him wear strange things - sheer fabrics and lace, intricate loops of rope, slave's gold paint, even fucking cock cage and nothing else - but he'd keep a  _uniform_ kink a secret? 

Hux’s apprehension finally broke, releasing the tension with a burst of laughter.

“Now I know what to do next time you'll be in sore need of punishment.”

“I thought you'd have me do your paperwork for those.”

“I would. You'd be filling reports in the office clerk uniform. Two birds with one stone.”

When their sniggers finally quieted again, Kylo put his head back down and nudged Hux’s fingers, silently asking Hux to play with his hair.

“So, what would you have me wear, for pleasure?” he asked quietly.

Hux pretended to think for good five seconds longer than necessary, before he said:

“I always had a thing for pilots.”


	4. Secret Crush

_ Eight years ago _

 

“What do we know about him?”

An ensign turned to meet Hux’s enquiry with a salute and a hasty reply. “Not much, Captain, sir. He’s from the New Republic. Apparently he hijacked a spacecraft to get into our space...”

Hux waved the rest off. The hangar bay bustled with activity around them, the workings of a perfectly organised machine. They were preparing for the arrival of a ‘new asset’, as the briefing from the Supreme Leader said. They already dispatched a unit of TIE/sf to escort the newcomer to the Finalizer. Through the lookout ports, Hux could already see them - an old, dilapidated A-wing flanked by the First Order starfighters. They approached on the usual course, at a fair speed.

Hux’s lips curled at the state of the Republican ship. But at the same time, he couldn’t fail to notice the apparent ease it kept pace with the more advanced fighters, the elegant turn it executed upon the preparation to land. Whoever piloted this thing was not afraid to push its limits. Hux was already intrigued.

His  _ thing _ for pilots was not exactly a secret, ever since the Academy. They were always up for a fling - cocky, the lot of them, showing off in the form-fitting black gear, proud of their unique skills and well aware of their appeal. But Hux wasn’t after them to be just one in the line of their trophies. He was the  _ hunter _  here.

There was something about the control they had over the danger they were in, sitting in a thin shell of a ship dancing through the lines of laser fire, that he wanted to break. To control someone who, in the heat of battle, answered to no one. They had the hyperspace at their fingertips and yet he could make them beg. It was the headiest thrill he could find.

The A-wing landed. Hux walked out to meet their guest.

The newcomer climbed down from his craft and just stood there, blinking at the guards and their blasters. Not drawn, but only just. There was arrogance in the clench of his jaw, restlessness in the way his mouth worked, crooked, soft and bitten bloody. His eyes flickered around until they latched onto Hux.

Hux’s first thought was,  _ I want to take this boy and make him into a man. _

The boy was a mess. The flight jacket he wore was too small on him, gaping across his broad chest. The rest of his clothes was probably white under that layer of dirt, grime and soot stains. He was barefoot. Hux longed to pry him out of this unruliness and mould him into the most perfect form-

Two flashes of red entered his vision. A pair of Snoke’s praetorian guards marched past him, unheeding of the stunned silence of the hangar, and came to a halt in front of the boy. He lifted his chin, eyes wide with fear but alight with determination, as if he’d been expecting them.

They took him away before Hux had the chance to speak with him.

When he saw him again, it was week later, at the command staff briefing with Snoke. Those dirty clothes and the hint of scared unshed tears were gone, in their place a figure of black leather and coarse fabrics, finished off with faceless mask and an unsettling silver-lined black visor. It looked like the boy has been made into a man, a man Hux didn’t like.

Kylo Ren was not his to play with. He already had another master. All he was now, just another obstacle in Hux’s way to the Galactic dominance. 


	5. Valentine's Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kylo attempts to wine and dine Hux. 
> 
> It goes.... not according to plan.

 

Kylo stretched his arms above his head, feeling the joints pop. Next to him, Hux was still playing with his hair, eyes staring absentmindedly out of the window.

“I guess these ideas mean one thing - you've officially gone bored on our honeymoon, two days in,” Kylo said, no heat or reproach behind the words. He knew his husband. Hux lasting two days was two days more than Kylo honestly expected.

Hux's fingers gave a sharp tug in reprimand.

“I'm not bored. It's surprising even to me but I'm not.”

Hux's thoughts fleetingly strayed to Phasma and her teasing at the wedding reception, _Emperor Armitage Hux, first of his name, enjoying something as basic and mundane as a honeymoon._

“It's all in the company you keep,” he said aloud. “You aren't boring, therefore I'm not bored.”

Beneath his cold fingers he felt the slight rush of heat in the skin of Ren's cheeks.

“Still not used to compliments,” Hux said fondly, pinching one red ear peeking out of those rich locks. “I think I prefer you that way. Wouldn't do you any good to become spoiled.”

Ren laughed. “No danger of that.”

Hux's fingers paused. He frowned. It was true his preferred method was the whip to the sugar but he couldn't be blamed for that when Kylo _liked_ the whip-

“Hux. Relax.”

“Out of my head, Ren,” Hux said automatically.

“You're hardly subtle when you haven't had your morning caf yet,” Ren replied, yawning. Then he propped himself up on one elbow, brought Hux's hand to his lips and kissed his palm.

“Do you remember the one thing I asked of you, back then?”

Hux swallowed. “You asked me to make it stop. The... noise.”

Ren had once described it as a huge, hollow nothingness filled with the looping echoes of his own screams, unquenchable in Snoke's absence. He needed the silence of Hux's Force-nullness to ground him, the static of pain and bliss to take over him-

“Not then. When we started again. After we stopped pretending. Do you remember?”

As if Hux could ever forget. It was the most terrifying request anyone has asked of him.

“You asked me not to keep myself away.”

Kylo smiled. “See? And you married me. You gave me everything I ever wanted. I don't care how we got here, Hux. All that matters to me is that you're here, with me.”

The fragile moment broke when Ren failed to suppress another yawn. Perhaps talking so much has exhausted him. More likely, he was still tired from yesterday.

“Go to sleep.” He pulled the blanket from under his legs and over Ren. “You need the rest.”

“But you-”

“I have enough reports to read through,” Hux said, leaning over to grab the datapad from the bedside table. Ren had enough grace not to scowl at it - by now he must have known when to pick his battles. Hux sat up against the headboard, loaded the first report onto the screen and dropped his free hand back into Ren's hair.

“Just a few minutes,” Ren mumble-yawned into the pillow, eyes already drooping. Twenty seconds later, his breath evened, mouth went slack. He was asleep.

Hux closed the reading app and loaded the holonet screen.

 

*

 

Kylo woke to a strange peace in their little bedroom. Outside, the city was quiet, slumbering under the oppressive blanket of midday heat. It would wake again later and go on its merry bustling way well into the night - but for now, with the window blinds drawn and streets empty, it could as well be a city of ghosts. 

Next to him, Hux had dozed off too. A half-finished cup of caf stood on the bedside table, next to the datapad. The battery in it was drained to its last few percent. 

Kylo's thoughts took him back to their earlier conversation. It was true their relationship progression was unconventional, to put it mildly. But to Kylo, every step was worth it. So what if they didn't exactly wine and dine each other-

-and who was to say they couldn't do that now? This was already a week out of the ordinary for them. Might just as well get the full experience, while they were at it. 

 

*

 

Something tugged at Hux's consciousness, piercing through the layers of pleasantly vague dreams and leftover tiredness blanketing his whole body. Something was not right - even as a Force-null he always had enough instinct to not sleep through danger-

-and if that wasn't enough to wake him, the crash and the shriek would probably wake the dead.

“Kriffing fuck!”

Hux shot out of bed, grabbed the blaster he kept under it, and barged into the adjoining room - a dining alcove slash kitchenette.

In the middle of the quaint room, a wreck of a collapsible table at his feet, stood Ren. Half of his tunic was drenched in slimy water dripping slowly onto the mess on the floor, and _something_ green and purple held at an arm's length, flopping up and down as if Ren was trying to shake it to death.

“What in hells-?”

“Hux! This flower-” and he fluttered his hand again, trying to dislodge the object wrapped around his fingers.

Hux stepped closer, took the offered arm and held it immobile to get a closer look. Immediately, one of those green curled leaves on the stem uncurled in his direction, showing its inner surface covered in hundreds of tiny, glistening needles, and moved to lash at him.

“Watch out-”

“Hold still,” Hux ordered. He needed alcohol, quick, anything - he spotted a glass of pale yellow wine on the counter and quickly poured it over the bunch of leaves and purple petals wrapped around Ren's hand.

The purple turned white with an audible hiss, the leaves spasmed and clamped shut all at once, and then it flopped harmlessly on the floor.

Ren cradled his hand to his chest. Two of his fingers looked a little red, but nothing worse. He was also pouting miserably.

“That was your wine.”

Hux finally paused to properly take in the mess. Among the shards of the tableware and tablecloth bunched on the floor he could spot something pink and rubbery. Also something like half shells, silver and black.

“You made me dinner?”

The scowl on Ren's face deepened.

“I ordered the room service droid to bring us dinner.”

Hux fought hard to keep the smile off his face.

“And they just happened to have Arkanian seafood on the menu tonight?”

Ren closed his eyes, a token admission of defeat.

“I told him to bring something specific to Arkanian cuisine,” he growled through his teeth. “I didn't know it'd smell like rotten seaweed.”

Hux took a deep breath. Counted to five. This was such a thin ice. But he just couldn't help himself.

“And the flowers?”

Ren opened his eyes, a hint of insecurity showing there for the first time they arrived to this planet.

“ _One_ flower.” He pointed to the shriveled lump of greenery on the floor. “That tried to _bite my fingers off…_ ”

He stared at Hux's twitching lips and the more comprehension dawned on his face, the harder Hux found it not to burst out laughing.

“Did I just…”

“Put the food in the vase and cooked the flowers? Yes.”

The color of Ren's face went through a reverse of what the creature did - from white to purple.

“They came in _shells!”_

“That's their pits. They'd crack when placed in a little water and bloom bright pink during the dinner.”

“And that… _green_ _thing_ came in a jar of water! Like a cut flower, I thought I'd only put it in something nicer-”

“That was to keep it alive,” Hux took Kylo's hand to inspect it again. The prickles were already fading, the swelling was hardly noticeable. “They're best consumed fresh, you know. An Arkanian delicacy.”

“I believe it considered _me_ a delicacy,” Kylo muttered. Hux only grinned when he spotted the hint of reluctant amusement on Kylo's face.

“We can order another. They have the fruit desserts we both like…” Kylo offered.

“Or we can call someone to deal with this mess while we go dine out.”

Kylo looked sadly out of the window. The light was fading from the sky, the multicolored lanterns in the streets coming to life. 

"It's late. Everything will be booked out."

"Well, then it's a good thing I made us reservations this morning, isn't it?" 


	6. Gift giving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or more precisely, gift negotiation.

“This is perfect,” Ren said with appropriately chastised expression after they sat down in the secluded booth at a local restaurant. Their nook was far enough from other tables to allow them to have a quiet conversation without being overheard. The lighting was low enough that Kylo could pull off his hood, the scar on his face turned away from the waiters and into the wall. Not that many people would recognise it - in battle, he wore his mask, and in court he hid his features beneath a layer of complicated makeup. But one could never be too careful. 

Of course it's perfect, the unspoken words glinted in Hux's eyes, half-lidded in the flickering candlelight. He looked very pleased with himself, as if he had to prove a point after that stunt he pulled on the marketplace. 

“This is why I'm the Emperor, my faithful Knight,” Hux said with teasing benevolence. 

“Because you're better at planning a dinner?”

“It's hardly difficult to outdo you at that when you're so bad at cooking, Ren.”

“As if you'd be any better.”

“Careful, Ren. Remember what came for you the last time you underestimated me?”

Kylo hoped his blush wasn't visible in the low light. He swallowed a sip of the savoury juice that came with their appetizer and countered:

“I remember what came for you the last time you overestimated yourself.”

The low light unfortunately obscured any shadow of a blush Hux could have been hiding. Then the waiter came to take their order and whatever upper hand Kylo might’ve gained was lost. 

“I'm glad you like this,” Hux changed the subject as soon as the waiter left. “With our respective duties… it might be quite some time before we get the time again. To catch up. With all the things we didn't get to do.”

“I told you. You don't have to woo me.”

Hux looked at him defiantly. 

“I'd enjoy it while it lasts, if I were you,” he warned him, impatient with the interruption, but Kylo carried on. 

“I'm already yours. Always have been, Hux.”

Hux’s hand stopped for a second, a glass of juice halfway to his lips. 

“I know,” he said mostly into the glass before swallowing a large gulp. The unsaid wasn't lost between them - _you were mine long before I was yours_. Kylo just wished Hux would stop feeling guilty about it. Not everything had to be a competition. 

But then, competitiveness was what ultimately landed Hux on the throne, so for him, it probably was. So Kylo should probably shut up and accept the pampering. Their marriage wasn't going to be a bed of roses, he knew - to have a little cushion of pleasant memories wouldn't hurt. 

Their entrées came and Kylo's mouth watered at the smell. He dove into his plate and slowed down only after good three quarters of his dish was gone. 

“This is much better than a finger-biting squid,” he said when he noticed the fascinated way Hux was watching him. 

“Did you know they are surprisingly intelligent for something without a skeleton?” Hux said with amusement. “They can even be trained. Some people keep them in aquariums for tricks. Maybe I could give you a pet, what would you say?”

“I'd say, no thank you, my liege,” Kylo shuddered. With Hux, one could never be hundred percent sure when he was joking. Then he perked up. “But if I could have a pet, I’ve always fancied an arctic manka lynx…”

“I should've known you'd want something capable of bringing down the palace,” Hux said, shaking his head with a little laugh. 

“A lothcat?” Kylo bargained. 

“Aren't they Force sensitive?” Hux asked with suspicion. 

“Old wives’ tales,” Kylo waved his hand. “Maybe they have a little affinity,” he amended after a while. 

Hux nodded thoughtfully. “It makes sense…”

Kylo chewed slowly on his morsel, his appetite a bit lost just like the easy banter they shared just a moment ago. 

“I don't need a Force sensitive companion,” he said at last. 

Across the table from him, Hux looked engrossed in his own meal but Kylo could tell he was listening. So he continued. 

“It's not something I need to share. To commune, or anything. I have the Knights, and even they can get overwhelming after a while. I know it sometimes gets the better of me… But on most days, it's just there. Like breathing.”

“It's not something I'll ever understand,” Hux said quietly. “I wish I would. You're mine, Kylo. How am I supposed to care for you properly-”

Kylo recalled something the drugged, lust-addled Hux told him back on the marketplace. _I wanted to know how you feel it._

“You don't have to understand it to understand me, Hux. I have words. You have ears. We could both agree to use them better.”

“I'll drink to that,” Hux poured them both a glass of wine and raised his. Kylo clinked his own against it and took a careful sip. It was very good. He licked his lips. 

“But really, can I get a lothcat?”

 


	7. Wild card

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kylo plays his cards well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sadly ran out of inspiration for this series so here you have a reworked piece I originally wrote for them during Easter 2017 and which somehow never made it to AO3.

“These are a surprisingly good imitation,” Kylo said, weighing one of the irregularly shaped stones in his bare palm. Very convincing - just the right amount of heavy and cool to touch.

“They had to be,” Hux nodded. “Wouldn’t fool a Force-sensitive, of course, but that would only spring the trap sooner than later.”

Kylo held one against the light. It was faintly translucent, with organic smooth edges, just like the real thing.

“When the smugglers said they were throwing Kyber into the lot, I almost got worried.”

“I outlined this plan with the Secretary of Commerce not even two weeks ago,” Hux lifted one eyebrow. “You haven’t been listening at all, were you?”

Kylo would never admit it but during that particular meeting, he took the advantage of his helmet to doze off. Just for a few seconds. Apparently he missed a lot more.

“I just didn’t expect the plan to work-”

He caught the beginnings of a scowl and immediately tacked on, “-so quickly.”

Hux’s face cleared. “It was launched just before we set off on this trip. I honestly didn’t expect to flush them out so soon, either.”

The recent increase of Kyber smuggling activity was becoming a matter of concernwhich Kylo could understand. So the Empire agents distributed a number of fake crystals on the black market and waited who would rise to the bait.  

“To be fair, I nearly blew our disguise when they whipped them out in that cantina.”

Hux laughed. “You cheated them out of the lot before they knew what hit them. Are you sure you weren’t using the Force when we played?”

“I have other tricks up my sleeve, if you must know.”

Hux looked him over with a smirk. Currently, Kylo had nothing up his sleeve. Mostly because he was shirtless. To be precise, he wore nothing at all, and if you asked Hux, it was his preferred look on Kylo. That flawless view was only slightly marred by the addition of a small ginger lothcat dozing off on Ren's chest. That creature had entirely too many teeth for Hux's liking but he was slowly starting to warm up to it. 

The landlord in their lodgings reccomended them the owner of a local cantina when they asked after lothkitten sellers. Hux and Ren went there, picked up a kitten, and then somehow got entangled in a game of cards with what turned out to be a band of Kyber smugglers. Hux had to call their retrieval shuttle with extra reinforcements, and then deal with the diplomatic fallout - fortunately, the local mayor was only too happy to let the Imperials extract Empire-wanted criminals, especially when he was promised no other consequences.

Now they were back in their quarters in the Palace, enjoying a last day of leisure before the real life would kick back in.

Hux took one fake Kyber crystal to admire its subtly pulsing shine.

“This is one of those we won,” he remarked. “I remember the shade. Where did they hide the rest?”

“All around their ship,” Kylo said with a shrug.

“You found them awfully quickly. I thought you could only sense real Kyber...”

“ _A lot_ of tricks up my sleeve,” Kylo said, lips curling in not exactly a smile. Hux decided not to dig in that particular sore spot. At least for now. Besides, he had another idea.

“If you’re so good at looking for things… what if we played a little game?”

 

*

 

Hux selected seven crystals that he decided were not evidence. He demanded two hours to hide them and then Kylo had the whole rest of the day to find as many as he could.

The first one Kylo found was easy. If Hux thought his Consort would never look among the state paperwork, he was sorely underestimating him.

Finding one crystal nestled neatly under the shoulder cape of Phasma’s armour - while Phasma wore it - was plain cheating. “You didn’t specify moving hiding places weren’t allowed,” was all Hux had said to it. Well. Kylo guessed he didn’t.

Many hours and six crystals later, Kylo was at the end of his rope. He’d tried everything. Using the Force to track Hux’s touch on them, when he couldn’t sense the crystals themselves. Using the Force to convince the lothkitten to sniff out the crystal - Hux touched it, and the cat's nose was very sharp... But the seventh one simply wasn’t anywhere. Nonsense. It had to be somewhere.

At least he’d found most of them. Small consolation, Kylo thought as he entered their quarters, which he’d thoroughly ransacked twice already, and found that his husband had never once moved from his desk, engrossed in work, not even enjoying Kylo’s growing frustration.

“It’s hardly a game when only one of us is playing.”

Hux gave him an unimpressed look over the top of his datapad. “I should’ve known you’d rather balk out than lose.”

Kylo swore. “There’s still time left. I’m going to find the last one just to stick it up your ass, Emperor.”

He was turning to leave so he’d almost missed the involuntary little sound Hux made. Just the tiniest snigger, barely more than a louder swallow. But for the ever collected Emperor, it was practically a scream. The ever collected Emperor, who was currently just a shade more flushed than his impending victory should warrant, whose back was just a touch straighter than his pride demanded.

Kylo took a step closer, eyes narrowing, taking in all the little details. Hux shifted. And squirmed. And flushed a little more.

“Oh. Oh I see. I think I found it already,” Kylo purred.

“You didn’t,” Hux protested. “You have to come get it.” He leaned back, wriggling his hips, undoubtedly to relieve the pressure. The fake crystals had mostly rounded shape with smooth edges, but they weren’t small.

“I don’t know,” Kylo grinned. “There’s still some time left, I should look around the Palace just to be sure it really isn’t anywhere else.”

Hux’s seductive look turned murderous with just a twitch of his facial muscles - and Kylo was damned because fuck if both of those looks didn’t turn him on. “You wouldn’t.”

“You don’t want to win, Emperor?”

“Fuck the game, Kylo, and then you could be so kind and fuck me.”

“Since you asked so nicely, husband.”

**Author's Note:**

> For more Star Wars nonsense, follow my [Twitter ](https://twitter.com/B_squire_C)


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